01 The Week in Markets
At a glance
Public archive. We preserve the questions and expectations from the original edition; we do not present them as results learned afterward.
This week, I am mainly watching Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon. My question is simple: how much of the growth from AI is starting to show up in the cash the company keeps?
What I am watching at each company:
Microsoft, Wednesday: how quickly Azure is growing and how much data center expansion costs.
Alphabet, Wednesday: whether Google Cloud is generating more profit and whether free cash flow is starting to recover.
Amazon, Thursday: AWS growth and margins, excluding the previous quarter's one-time gains.
Celestica has already given us a useful example. It beat its own revenue and adjusted earnings-per-share forecasts, but lowered its 2026 free cash flow forecast. Demand is growing, but expansion has to be paid for.
At Verizon, forecasts for subscribers, adjusted profit and free cash flow increased. Debt, acquisitions and spectrum payments still need watching.
📅 Earnings Calendar — dates and times
What would you need to see in these reports to conclude that AI investment is starting to pay off?
We discuss this in the comments and in this week's Discord conversation. Detailed analyses remain in the company channels.
What we were watching at the companies
Educational material and editorial opinion. Data and prices refer to the periods shown, not live quotes. Text and images created with AI assistance.